Lauren Wells-Mann is an actor, director, dancer, choreographer and arts educator. As a proud company member with MPAACT, she has had the pleasure of directing the following productions: Pulled Punches (BTAA and Black Excellence Award Nominee for Best Direction) Mother of the Dark Water (Jeff Nominee for Best Ensemble, Black Excellence Nominee for Best Production and Best Direction), By Association by Shepsu Aakhu (Black Excellence Nominee for Best Production) and various podcast plays. Assistant Director credits include: Upstate by Aaron Todd Douglass, directed by Carla Stillwell and Crowns by Regina Taylor, directed by Chuck Smith. Mrs. Wells-Mann holds a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Theater/Acting (Columbia College Chicago) and a Masters in Secondary Education (Univ. of Phoenix). She began her professional acting career with Eta Creative Arts foundation. It was here that Lauren had the pleasure of working with esteemed directors such as Ilesa Duncan, Kemati Porter, Runako Jahi and Cheryl Lynn Bruce. She has also performed with companies such as Lookingglass, Black Ensemble, MPAACT, Harlem Theater Company, Healthworks Theater Company, and Victory Gardens to name a few. Mrs. Wells-Mann has been coaching competitive acting and speech events for the Illinois High School Association for 20 years. Under her direction, students have won numerous state and national championships in various acting and public speaking activities. Lauren Wells-Mann believes in the power of the arts and the importance of BIPOC artists having autonomy over their own narratives. It is a mission to which she is deeply committed.
Department: ChiArts Arts Conservatory Faculty
Shawn Wallace
As keyboardist, Shawn has worked with Common, Ice Cube, Little Brother, Bobby Brown, Dwele, Johnny Gill, Jon B., Bilal, Estelle, Julie Dexter, Rene Neufville, Rakim, Eric Roberson, and Maggie Brown just to name a few.
Arrangement/Composition for Theatre includes Red Summer (with Shepsu Aakhu and Andy White, premiering Sept. 2022), Middle Passage (Lifeline Theatre Spring 2022), Shakin’ the Mess Outta Misery (Pegasus Theatre Fall 2017), Lawd the CVS is Burning…a Gospel Musical Stage Play (MPACT 2015) and Warm on the Cooling Board (MPAACT 2014).
Sound Design credits include N (GLP Productions 2019), Single Black Female and Lady Day at Emmerson’s Bar and Grill (Congo Square Theatre 2018-2019). Commercial credits include Jet Magazine, Mississippi Rick’s Restaurant, Huffy Bicycles, Arby’s and Sprint.
Shawn Wallace’s teaching experience includes current work at Storycatchers Theatre, Lyric Opera’s Empower Youth Program, and past work as the Technical Theatre Program Lead at Mayo Elementary School.
Allison Byston
Jordyn Birden
Carl Aagesen
Originally from Omaha, Nebraska, Carl Aagesen has lived and worked in Chicago since 2004. He is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago and the Randy Potter School of Piano Technology. A Professional Piano Technician and lifelong student of music, Carl began teaching privately in 2010. In addition to working as a piano instructor, Carl keeps ChiArts’ fleet of pianos in tune. A frequent guest behind the scenes at innumerable venues, churches, performance halls and recording studios throughout the Chicagoland area, he is daily engaged in the process of finding exactly the sounds to suit the individual needs of each exciting pianist he encounters. Carl is an active member of Chicago ensembles Les Metalliques, Names Divine, Boatist, and the Colm Lennon Band. In his spare time, he rewards his discerning ears by composing, arranging and recording his own music. Evening Airs (2020), Moonbean Champion (2021), and Facades (2022) can be heard on streaming platforms or purchased from Bandcamp.
Tracey Franklin
Tracey Franklin is a native of Chicago. She began her training at the age of 16 at Joseph Holmes Dance Theater. In 1999, Ms. Franklin graduated from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Certificate Program. In 2000, Ms. Franklin was a company member of Dallas Black Dance Theater for four years. In 2004, she returned to Chicago as a company member with Deeply Rooted Dance Theater for 12 years. Ms. Franklin has been a teaching artist in the Dance Conservatory for the past nine years, assistant to the department head for five years, and one Assistant Dean of Students.
Caitlin Ryan
Caitlin Ryan is a Chicago-based interdisciplinary artist and filmmaker. Her work explores the nuances between comedy and humor, specifically using the vernacular of the uncanny to investigate systems of anthropology. I am interested in small underground (and sometimes temporary) communities to observe perspectives that push the boundaries of what it means to have radical empathy. Ryan received her MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago and has most recently shown works at Airlock,Iceberg Projects, Flatlands, Gallery 400, and Hyde Park Art Center. She has also screened works at Onion City Film Festival, Chicago Underground Film Festival, ICDOCS,Cosmic Rays,and the Nightingale Cinema.
Eliza Fernand
Eliza Fernand is an artist and educator who works primarily with video, sound, fabric, and clay. After studying sculpture and photography at Interlochen Center for the Arts in Northern Michigan and earning a BFA Sculpture from Pacific Northwest College of Art in Oregon, Eliza led a cross-country career attending over a dozen artist residencies and exhibiting internationally. A new citizen of Chicago, she spent the last eight years in Michigan where she directed and facilitated an artist residency, taught at non-profit organizations, and earned an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Sierra Nevada University. In artmaking and in teaching, Eliza aims to provoke an acceptance of loving practices outside of the norm, and promote experimentation on all levels. www.elizafernand.com
Christian Swan
Claire Moore
Claire Moore is an artist and educator living in Chicago. She uses painting to understand herself and her surroundings, and her work can largely be described as self-portraiture. Claire received a BFA in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2007, and an MFA in Painting and Drawing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2021. She has shown her work at various spaces in Florida, Rhode Island, New York, and Chicago. clairemoorestudio.com